The Wall | Yejisu

Chapter 41

December eleventh. In the afternoon, Yeji returned to old town and met Lia at the house. Yeji opened the door of the bedroom and found Lia sitting at the foot of the bed and swaying her legs.

"Something on your mind?" Yeji sat on the floor right in front of Lia. She leaned against the bed. Lia stroked her brown hair.
"Not really. How was it going? Did they agree to let you learn dancing in the uni?"

Yeji grinned. They did. Yeji spent the entire morning with them at home and drove them to the airport before she came to old town.

"I'm still a lonely girl at the end of this year. I asked and they couldn't stay any longer"
"But! They promised us we can have three weeks together in January. They'll find someone to deal with business stuff and we can go on a trip or do anything we want"

Yeji recalled earlier when she watched mom and dad left at the airport. Before, she usually put on a smile but was blue inside. But this time, she didn't feel blue. They would come back soon and she could enjoy the time with their accompany.

"I think I did a great job" she said.

Lia tapped her shoulders. Yeji turned back and their lips met. Lia placed her arms on Yeji's neck and slowly stretched to her back. Yeji parted a bit and looked at her.

"What is"

Before she could speak, their lips met again. Yeji felt her skin is getting hot. She placed her hands on Lia's laps and wanted to moved her body upwards. But Lia stopped there.

Yeji sat back on the floor and looked confused. She had no idea why Lia acted like this. She liked this kiss but what did Lia mean?

"Another way of saying love you" Lia smiled. Yeji looked into her eyes. She felt that Lia wanna tell her something.

"What do you mean?" Yeji asked.
"Why you think you're not a good girlfriend?"
"You wrote it in the diary" Lia said.

She did. It was on the second page. Yeji wrote it down but erased the words before she put the diary in the drawer. She wanted it to disappear.
"I thought I erased them" she said.

But the words were still on it and were seen by Lia. She wrote it with Lia's coloured pencil. She wanted to erase the words. She even made the paper crumpled. But her handwriting was still clear.

"Babe, you're a good girlfriend" Lia said.
"Maybe you were hurt before and something made you believe that you're not. But you are the best one to me"

Yeji never thought she got hurt. But the truth was she did have wounds on her body and they turned into the echo in her heart. It kept telling her that she is bad.

But Lia wanted her to know that she isn't bad. She was her lucky star and her fairy! Yeji brought her happiness.

"You let me believe that love is the happiest thing in the world. I gave up once when mom left me, but you help me find back the confidence in it"

Yeji felt the same. When she was with Lia, she forgot the echo and the wounds on her body. She felt the pain sometimes. But little by little, she was healed by Lia.

"And you never walked away from me. We went to every corner in this town. We explored the world outside the wall. We went on so many adventures"

The missing part in Lia's heart was filled by Yeji. They both stood in a heavy rain before, but they put on the umbrella for each other. They walked in the rain and didn't felt cold anymore.

"If it wasn't you, I may not have a beautiful summer like this one"
"And I may not be able to find that I'm actually a loved child if you're not with me. You let me cry like a kid and give me hugs"

That was what Yeji have done as a girlfriend of Lia. She came when Lia needed her. She held Lia in arms when she needed comfort.

"But I hurt you before" Yeji said.
"Babe, people get hurt. And we are cool after that. I don't mind if you're gonna hurt me in the future"
"And we know that your heart is designed a bit differently now. So it won't hurt me again"

Lia smiled and looked at Yeji's wet eyes. Her tears came out easily these days. Lia placed her arms on her shoulders.
"I love u. You're a good girlfriend. I want you to believe that, ok?"

Yeji nodded and was given another kiss. Lia's hair brushed pass her cheeks. Lia stood up and saw her dad walking through the yard.

"Do you wanna come downstairs? We're going to cook the dinner" Lia said.
"Yeah, I'll join you later"

Lia walked out and left Yeji in the bedroom. She stretched out on the bed and went away in head.

Yeji didn't need to worry that she isn't a good girlfriend in front of Lia now. They talked it out and the echo in her heart was replaced with the words from Lia.

But, why a small part of my heart was still sad, Yeji thought. It was like a whirlpool in an ocean. The bottom of the whirlpool connected a memory of Yeji.

/

December twelfth. Last night, the heavy fog fell and covered the streets in old town and part of the new town. The city was wrapped in a thin layer of steam from the northern sea. The air was humid and chilly.

This morning, the fog went away. Yeji got up before eight and went to school. The sky above her looked like a heavy coat of white paint. She looked for the sun, but it was out of sight.

Winter sometimes made her blue. The scene was one of the reasons. She arrived at school few minutes before the first class and walked to her classroom.

The first class. The second class. If you asked Yeji, she didn't even know whether the teacher came in or not. She looked out through the open windows.

"Earth to Yeji, hello??" Chae waved her hands to bring her back from outer space.
"Hey, what's up" Yeji said and turned her head to Chae.
"You don't wanna close the windows? The wind is really cold"

She saw Chae wrap herself in school jacket and the coat. The classmates in the same row were much the same. A girl kept rubbing her hands.

"Yeah, it's cold"
Yeji stood up and closed the windows. She saw something in the air. Tiny snowflakes fell down from the sky.

The colour wasn't like the first one she saw in this winter. It was like the mix of white and the colour of ash and gunpowder.

In the afternoon, the sunset brought all the lights with him and left the sky for darkness. Yeji put on her coat, grabbed her bag and walked out the classroom.

"You forgot we're going for a dinner tonight right?" Chae appeared behind her back and said.

They planned to go out for a dinner and went to apartment later. Yeji texted Lia in the morning but she still forgot it.

"How about we have dinner at apartment? And maybe you can explain why you act like this today" Chae said.

They took the subway home and brought some drinks on the way. They walked up the slope in wind and arrived at the apartment.

Yeji opened the door and turned on the lights in the living room. She put her bag at the corner of the sofa and sat down. Chae sat across the table.

"Okay, do you wanna tell me what is going on?"
/